THE PRESIDENT: Welcome. Please be seated. Nice going, you
finally got back. (Laughter.) I am proud of the Midshipmen of the
United States Naval Academy, the proud keepers of the
Commander-in-Chief's Trophy. Welcome. (Applause.) Earning the trophy
says a lot about these men. It says you work hard, you set high
standards, and you beat Army. (Laughter.)

I'm honored that Tony Principi, the Secretary of the Department of
Veterans Affairs, has joined us. He is a proud graduate of the Naval
Academy. (Applause.) I appreciate Senator Thad Cochran from
Mississippi who is with us, who is on the U.S. Naval Academy Board of
Visitors. Senator, thank you for coming. You honor us with your
presence. I appreciate the Governor of Maryland, Bob Ehrlich, joining
us today. Thank you for coming, Governor. He claims he was a pretty
good linebacker in his day. (Laughter.) Slow, but could hit hard.
(Laughter.)

Also on the U.S. Naval Academy Board of Visitors is the Lt.
Governor from Maryland, Michael Steele. Thank you for coming,
Michael. Glad you all are here.

Gordon England is with us, the Secretary of the Navy. He reminded
me of the time I went to the Army-Navy game in the fall of 2001. It
was a miserable experience for the Naval Academy. My, times have
changed. (Laughter.) Mr. Secretary, I'll give you some of the
credit.

General Hagee, Commandant of the Marine Corps, is with us.
General, thanks for coming. I told the General coming in, his troops
in Iraq are performing brilliantly. Thank God we're on the same side.

As I said, it's been a while since the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy
was at the Academy. It turns out that the last time it was there --
when Ronald Reagan was the President. And a lot of the players on this
team weren't even born. (Laughter.) That's a long time ago for them.
(Laughter.) It's not so long ago for some of us older fellows.

I -- here's what I found interesting about this team, and its
Captain, Greg Cooper -- that the night after you beat Army, Cooper
flies to Colorado Springs to pick up the trophy. That's called
desire. (Laughter.) It turns out that Cooper wasn't sure how big the
trophy was, and that it was too heavy for the flight home. So he rents
a truck and drives the trophy from Colorado Springs to Annapolis. When
we recruit the finest, we look for determination in the U.S. military.
And we have found it in Captain Cooper.

I watches some of your games on TV. The first scouting report I
got, however, on the mighty Midshipmen football team was from Number 41
-- that would be President George H.W. Bush -- who went to see the Rice
game. I don't know if you remember the Rice game, but Navy beat a
pretty darn good team by 32 points in Houston. He said, "Prepare the
grounds for the arrival of the Midshipmen this year to receive the
Commander-in-Chief Trophy." I said, "Okay." (Laughter.)

One of the things that the young men and women at the Naval Academy
learn is leadership, how important it is to be a leader, what it means
to lead, how one sets standards and calls people to a higher calling.
That's what we expect of the officers who wear our uniforms, and that's
what Coach Johnson has taught the young men who play football for the
Naval Academy. He believes in high standards. His view is, failure is
not an option; success is what we aim for.

He had some great individual stars on this team, but obviously, was
able to say to those stars, you're playing for something greater than
yourself. You're playing for the team, so that perhaps, if you do what
I ask you to do, if you work hard enough, you can come to the White
House and receive the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy.

Coach Johnson, you have set a high standard. You and your team has
achieved one of the most dramatic turnarounds in NCAA football
history. And it is my honor to welcome you and your team, and your
leadership qualities, here into the East Room of this great house of
the people.

You know, I know that every player works hard to work -- to win on
Saturday afternoons. And that's vital if you're a football player. I
mean, what the heck, you might as well work hard so you can win. I
don't know a lot of people who work hard so they can go out and lose.
But one of the things that I know you know is taking place now is that
you're preparing to lead our nation in a time of war; that you wear
uniforms of football so you can -- and you'll wear a uniform of the
United States of America as we fight the first war of the 21st
century. It is the teamwork that you're learning on the field that
will enable you to lead others to make America more secure. That's the
lesson you're learning as you became great football players.

I'm proud of your predecessors serving overseas. They're serving
brilliantly in zones of combat. They're doing everything they can to
be as tough and as compassionate as we expect our soldiers to be.
They're tough, on the one hand, and compassionate, on the other. We
have got a mission in this nation, and that is not only to make
ourselves secure from an enemy which hates our freedom, but at the same
time, spread freedom so that the world will be more peaceful; so people
have a chance to live with dignity and hope. And members of the
classes before you, members of the great Naval Academy class,
understand that mission, and they're accomplishing it with great class
and dignity.

Many of the seniors here will be given that same opportunity to
serve our nation. And I just want to tell you the nation will be
grateful for your service, be grateful for your sacrifices, will be
grateful of what you do to make the world a better place for all of us
to live.

And now it's my honor, Coach, to present the Commander-in-Chief's
Trophy to winners -- people who achieved the big dream; people who will
represent our country in the finest of Navy traditions. May God bless
them, and may God bless their families. And May God continue to bless
the United States of America.